Most of the third party controllers put on the market are, for the most part, shoddy products that no serious video game enthusiast would even be interested in attaining. The only ones that I can remember possessing were one that came with Madden a few years ago at Toys 'R' Us and one I had for Super Nintendo waaaay back in the day. But Snakebyte's premium Bluetooth controller alters the paradigm on those suppositions. Here we have an actual functioning third party controller. And yeah it's pretty good.
The first thing you'll notice is the Xbox/PS3 hybrid mold of the controller. It's wider and thinner than the standard PS3 controller that's been the industry model since the late 1990's. However, that's really only an aesthetic difference as most gamers are easily able to go in between those two platforms with the difference in handling causing no substantial problem.
All of the standard Playstation 3 buttons are in the exact same places. Contrary to what many gamers would prefer, especially with the arrival of Killzone 2 soon, the analog sticks have not been shifted to the Xbox position, one of the keys in the successful porting of first person shooters to consoles. Every button is exactly where you'd expect them to be. The triggers are slightly altered, exhibiting more of a concave shape as opposed to the more uniform appearance of the Sony models. However, they don't exhibit actual triggers like the Microsoft controllers so while your fingers are more formed to use the Snakebyte triggers, they still aren't ideal. There are free trigger adapters that can work with other PS3 controllers included in the package but they're big and bulky. They're clearly just trying to emulate the Xbox triggers. Why this wasn't included in the actual design I don't know. They're obnoxiously large however and just feel like they got in the way. I honestly liked the standard triggers better than those.
It takes slightly more power to make the buttons work when you're first breaking in the controller. Sometimes I would see my QB in Madden not throw the ball when I hit the button. My first week with the controller consisted of making sure I slammed those buttons to make them work. After a week I either unconsciously did this or the controller just softened up because I eventually completely adjusted to the contours of the buttons and controllers.
As seems to be necessary for a third party controller to be released, there is in fact a turbo button. I don't know anybody that ever uses one. Sure they could be handy for when you have to mash buttons to open doors as in God of War but that's a rare exception. This button has been a standard of third party controllers ever since their advent around two decades ago. Back then, when games relied more heavily on button mashing, they could be useful but now all they do is provide an option to market that serves no practical purpose. Turbo buttons are a relic of past gaming generations and there's really no need for them. At least it has a rumble feature unlike the initially sold PS3 Sony controllers. Go Dualshock!
The Bluetooth aspect of the controller is fairly easy to set up, as it is with most other PS3 controllers. This part is no different from that of the Sony brand. But it takes much more effort to be able to turn your PS3 on from your couch with the Snakebyte controller. You have to aim it directly at the console as opposed to the standard controllers that can turn on the console from the other room. It's a problem but one that you easily get used to with no problem. It's not a big deal.
In conclusion, while most third party controllers don't measure up to their first party brethren, Snakebyte's Premium Bluetooth controller for PS3 certainly comes the closest to doing so in all my experience with these devices. That said, it's not perfect and could certainly use improvements in the fields of triggers and a more PS3 like feel but it is a well made and easily used controller. There's nothing complicated about it and you'll likely be able to transition seamlessly from the standard PS3 controllers to Snakebyte's controller. If you're set on buying a third party PS3 controller, this is it.
